Friday, December 08, 2017

The Weather

Mark D says in comments:

Those of us from the Northern states get quite a kick out of it when Southerners shut down over an amount of snow which wouldn't be a valid excuse to be late to work up here.Then again, we freak out over 60 mph winds......

Heh! I recall when I was a shavetail Lieutenant at Fort Knox. Middle of January, 1977. My platoon sergeant mentioned one afternoon that it looked like it might snow. I had grown up in the Deep South and had only seen snow infrequently. Sure enough, the next morning there was snow on the ground. I called the company to see what's up?

The First Sergeant answered the phone. "Get your ass in here, Lieutenant. The Army is working today."

And, we worked every day that it snowed. Shortly thereafter I bought a used Volkswagen Beetle off the PX parking lot for $500.00. That thing was great in the snow and ice. And, it was so cheap that I wasn't worried if I slid into something. Two years later I sold it for the same $500.

So, yeah, Mark, we have different weather traumas in different areas of the country. If it snows in the Deep South, almost everything shuts down until folks can catch their breath and take stock of the situation.

4 comments:

I rode my motorcycle from the housing area to First Training Brigade headquarters in the snow in January. Condensing breath on my helmet's faceshield formed an icicle. Even that crappy army coffee felt good then.

A couple years ago we got a forecast of a snowmageddon, the forecast was for over 36 inches of snow. Mass transit in the NYC/NJ area was shut down in preparation, both states issued a state-of-emergency, we were told to stay home, only emergency personnel allowed on the roads, etc. I had to take a vacation day because I couldn't get to work, no trains/subways and wasn't allowed to drive (not that I WOULD have anyway).

We got about three inches, but by the time anyone realized that it was too late to get things back up and running. One of the bigger weather-forecast eff-ups I've ever seen.

Base Cars! I've known several, but never owned one. Man gets orders for USS Elsewhere, sells his heap to another sailor, who does the same a couple of years later to another sailor, who does the same a couple of years later...I recall an old Beetle at NAS Oceana & Naval Base Norfolk that a shipmate owned for awhile. Haze grey (must've been owned by a BM at one point), broken heater, VW semi-automatic (remember those abortions?) that worked correctly sometimes, etc. Absolutely the ugliest car in Tidewater VA, but the damned thing never actually refused to go. May not have run well, but it always ran. I don't think any owner ever sold it for more than $300, & this was in 1988-90. For all I know, it's still on a base somewhere around there.--Tennessee Budd

When I was in Houston, snow shut the world down. Then I moved to Fairbanks. The mix of weather was such that only about 24" of snow dumped over night shut stuff down. Now, I'm in the Ozarks where ice storms shut everything down.

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I'm a grandpaw who has lived a life of adventure, and resent having to slow down. I've been a Tank Commander, a Company Commander, an MP. My main career has been law enforcement, with 30 years and counting. At this stage of my life, the most important people in my life call me PawPaw. You've come to PawPaw's House. Sit back and enjoy.
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